We’re called GameSpot, so we clearly love to play some video games. You’re reading stories on this site called GameSpot, so it’s safe to assume that you love to play some video games, too. However, we all need to be careful with how long we play video games because a new study suggests that logging too many hours could seriously hurt our physical, emotional, and mental health.
In a new study published in ScienceDirect’s Nutrition journal and reported on by Medical Xpress, 10 different researchers from around the world investigated the effects “excessive gaming” has on young people. Led by Professor Mario Siervo of the Curtin School of Population Health in Perth, Western Australia, and surveying 317 students from five Australian universities with a median age of 20 years old, the study found that “high gamers”–people whose playtime exceeded 10 hours a week–were at greater risk of dietary issues, sleep deprivation, and weight gain.
“What stood out was students gaming up to 10 hours a week all looked very similar in terms of diet, sleep, and body weight,” Siervo said. “The real differences emerged in those gaming more than 10 hours a week, who showed clear divergence from the rest of the sample.”
